Science & Technology

Michio Kaku: 'teleportation will be possible'

By T.K. Randall
September 8, 2015

Image: Michio Kaku
Credit: Jay Murdock / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Teleporting someone from one place to another in the blink of an eye might seem like something firmly routed within the realm of science fiction, but according to Professor Kaku technologies such as this are not only possible but could even be available within the space of just a few decades.

"A lot of things you see on Star Trek will in fact be possible - like the teleporter," he said.

"Quantum teleportation already exists. In fact, we took a film crew and went to the University of Maryland and actually filmed an atom being teleported. It zapped across the room from one chamber to another. So at an atomic level we do it already. It's called quantum entanglement."Within ten years, he predicts, scientists will have succeeded in teleporting the first molecule and eventually these same techniques can be adapted to teleport larger objects and even people.

What was once deemed impossible would simply become a scientific "engineering project".

But would teleporting every atom in the human body be a realistic proposition ? Students at the University of Leicester recently conducted a study in which they concluded that it would take quadrillions of years to entangle, read, digitize and teleport every particle in the human body.

There's also the small matter of whether the person would still be alive at the other end.




Tags: Michio Kaku, Teleportation, Star Trek